1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to network systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for end-to-end automatic configuration of network elements using a link level protocol.
2. Introduction
Manual configuration of an enterprise network can be a time-consuming, labor-intensive process. Historically, most configuration tasks have been handled via manual processes. In today's modern enterprise networks, this manual configuration is no longer viable due to the scale and complexity of today's infrastructure.
Configuration management, which can include a collection of processes and tools that promote network consistency and track network changes, is a key element in improving network availability and lowering costs. For example, best practices in configuration management will lead to lower support costs due to a decrease in reactionary support measures taken by IT administrators. The same would also hold true in the corresponding improvement in network availability due to decreased instances of network elements taken offline for diagnostic and configuration support.
To decrease the number of problems that can arise from a manual configuration process, one option is to rely on a centralized protocol. A disadvantage of such a centralized protocol, however, is the large amounts of communication required between network elements and the centralized control in maintaining an accurate view of the configured state of the monitored network elements. What is needed therefore is an efficient mechanism for end-to-end configuration of network elements.